


Old King Grimlock

by PrimeRadiant



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:34:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25711444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrimeRadiant/pseuds/PrimeRadiant
Summary: Hundreds of millions of years into the future, Grimlock remembers his own birthday. Very short story.
Kudos: 7





	Old King Grimlock

“Happy birthday, King Grimlock!”

Grimlock didn’t hear at first. His optics flashed red but the light behind them was dim, a dark burgundy. He sat up. As he shifted on the throne, it creaked under him even though it was only four hundred thousand years old. How many had he gone through? Not even he remembered.

Five hundred million years had passed since the last of the Great Wars ended.

In front of him, below him, three Cybertronians stood, smiling up at the King of Final Cybertron. 

“I wasn’t listening,” the Great King said. “What did you say?” His voice echoed through the throne room in Iacon Castle.

The three robots looked back and forth nervously. “H-happy birthday!” the one on the right repeated.

“Oh, that. Well, I suppose it is.” He reached for his energo-sword. The flame had long since extinguished, and its blade was so blunt that it served as a cane. “Is it August 23 again so soon?”

The one on the left squinted. “August? What is that, King?”

_ What indeed. That name, from a forgotten calendar from a forgotten planet, millions of years ago,  _ he thought.  _ It’s amusing what you remember after forgetting so much. _

“What day is it again?” Grimlock asked, looking outside at wildlife he didn’t recognize. 

“It’s Optimber 99, my King, the last day of the year.” 

“Optimber!” Grimlock said, laughing. His old friend would’ve hated that a lunar cycle was named after him. “Very well. What brings you here on my birthday? No, let me guess: a history lesson?”

“We are the highest-ranked students at Kaon Institute for Historical Reconstruction, and so we won an award to visit the oldest Cybertronian to help with our thesis writing,” the center robot said. The left one and right one nodded their heads. He looked at their “Generation 24” symbols bobbing as they nodded.

“You, Center. Tell me of your thesis. Then Left and Right can do the same.”

“Actually, our names are--”

Grimlock frowned.

“Uhh....” A brief pause. Center continued. “ _ Are Headmasters a Special Kind of Combiner, But Like Just With the Heads?” _

Grimlock sighed. They got worse every year.

“I’m going to tell you about real history. I suppose you haven’t read my memoirs?” 

Left stuttered and said, “Um...I o-own several copies of  _ Four Million Years Ago,  _ and I really want to read it and the many sequels but no one can understand texts from that long ago--”

Grimlock growled and tapped his cane. The visitors froze in place.

“All my life--in all my many lives--no one has understood me. Just this once, I will talk as I did back then. Try to keep up so that your logic circuits can learn something useful for once and acquire the Old Speech.” He paused for a moment, remembering.

“Me Grimlock not always King. Started off as Dinobot leader. Serve under no one. You know what Autobot means?”

They said nothing and shook their heads.

“Bah! Your school useless, trash! Symbol faded here on my chest. No one alive today who can draw it.” He leaned on his energo-cane and walked around the throne room. 

“Me remember time of the Great Primes. Optimus, who Ascended into Matrix. Rodimus, who killed Chaos with Matrix. But Chaos kept coming back. Grimlock kept kicking butt. Rodimus reach Satori and he release Chaos from cycle of death and rebirth with sacrifice.

“Then came Goldfire Prime and million years of peace. Then Liege Maximo come and it Dark Ages. Thunderwing become Prime and unite Autobot and Decepticon. After he die killing Maximo, awful Year of Four Primes--Ruckus, Cryotek, Soundwave, and Firestar Prime, who rule Pax Cybertronia for 2 million years.

“Then Predacon revolt. Sage Primal and Judge Megatron battle and transform Cybertron. Then Two Galvatron Crisis make trillions die. Long recovery; humans all gone. Nebulos gone. Me Grimlock fix crisis, force peace between Automals and Predacrons. War over. Me hold empty Matrix. 

“It hard for you to understand things on scale of millions of years. Most things not able to last that long. Me Grimlock change bodies many times, but always come back to this. Across history, this all anyone know of Grimlock. Once Optimus return and die every year for 100 years. Not allowed to really change. Us Cybertronians are changing robots but not able to really  _ change _ . You understand?”

The three visitors said nothing.

“Me Grimlock was Pretender. Even later tried car mode. And later Headmaster. Legmasters. Handmasters. Shouldermasters. Even Nosemasters! Yes, they help you smell in combat. But no matter what happens, Grimlock know he be back in this body soon.”

He returned to his throne, his voice changing. “And so, young Kaonians, I conclude my tale. You may leave. I hope your theses can approach basic competence and that you learn the value of actual work someday.”

“But  _ we’re  _ not done!” said Center, who jumped into the air, transforming. He landed on the shoulders of Left and Right.

“Eat Pathblaster!” Left shouted. “In the name of First Megatron the Most High, die!” Center’s trigger was pulled and a blinding flash burst toward him.

Grimlock’s chest opened, revealing the husk of a nearly-depleted Matrix. The beam filled it with horrible, crackling energy. Left and Right dropped Center, who transformed. They all slid away, dumbstruck.

“The old Matrix was filled with wisdom and compassion. But those days are gone, you see. When Decepticons rule, there is oppression. When Autobots rule there is inertia and stagnation. I keep us on the third path. Every year, someone thinks they can end me,  _ but your hatred keeps me alive _ . Take this lesson to your scrapheap graves.”

There was no escape.

The revitalized Grimlock transformed into dinosaur mode, and for a moment, everything went red.

When he came to, he felt sluggish again. The Matrix was empty. He trudged to the throne in dinosaur mode, and slowly sat down, the throne accommodating his tail. The throne room was painted in oil and energon and bits of metal.

As he picked crunched metal and dried energon from his teeth, he thought,  _ Happy birthday. Maybe next year. _


End file.
